Fast forward to Mid-July. School term had ended for summer break. Although Haruka and Michiru would stay busy with their professional life, they were looking forward to spending more quality time together.

In one afternoon, Michiru met up with Haruka for brunch, and then the two took a stroll in the park before heading to their own events in the evening.

"Few months ago I passed by this park on my way to the charity event." Michiru said.

"Which event? The one that I gave you a ride to?" Haruka looked at her.

"Yes, that was the one. It was a warm spring day, and couples and families were out here enjoying a good time. I remember thinking that it'd be nice if I could do that someday as well. I didn't think it'd happen so soon." The violinist smiled.

"I am surprised. For a princess like you, I thought you'd rather have afternoon tea at the royal garden." the racer jokingly said.

"Come on Haruka, stop teasing me."

"Speaking of that charity event, do you still remember the little girl Hotaru?" Haruka asked.

"Of course I do. I wonder how she's doing. I was in a rush that day and didn't get a chance to take the lady's number. Now that school is over, she's probably enjoying her summer break."

"I actually got a voicemail from them a few weeks ago." the racer said.

"Oh yeah? What did they say? I hope they're doing well."

"Hotaru reminded me that I still owe her a ride."

The violinist looked at the racer for a few seconds, then she giggled, "That's right. You did make that promise. So what's your plan?"

"I spoke with Setsuna, her adoptive mother, and we agreed that I'd take her out on one of the Saturdays."

"That sounds like fun." Michiru smiled.

"Not unless you come along." The racer winked.

"Me?"

"Hotaru wanted you to come too. Plus I don't think I can handle an 8 year old by myself the whole day."

"Okay. Let's do that together then. I'm actually open next Saturday. How does your schedule look?"

"Works for me. She should live close to here, and since you like this park so much, why don't we come here for a picnic then? I think she's going to like it."

Michiru could tell that the racer was excited to spend some time with the little girl.

"All sounds good. Since you're so good with planning, I'm counting on you to bring fresh fruits, pastries, tea sandwiches, cheese, cold cuts, salad, and drinks." The violinist teased the racer.

"Only if you promise that you'll play me some soothing music on your violin as I take a nap on the warm grass after the picnic." The tall blonde replied.

"I'm sure some people prefer a quieter park." Michiru said.

"I don't know who wouldn't want to listen to Kaioh Michiru play violin in the park? Anyway, if they want a quieter park then we'll just have the park to ourselves." the racer joked. Michiru laughed and linked her arm with Haruka's.

"But what about the ride?" the artist asked.

"That's a piece of cake." The racer said, "We can ride to anywhere afterwards."

"I want to go to the aquarium on the outskirt of the city. I haven't been there since I was 8." Michiru always loved visiting aquariums.

"Ok princess. Your wish is my command." Haruka half-jokingly said.

Michiru giggled and leaned her head against the racer's strong arm.

Michiru was scheduled to make an appearance for a live TV show In the evening, while Haruka promised to attend one of her racer friends' birthday party. The racer wanted to give the violinist a ride to the studio but the aqua-haired beauty insisted on taking the taxi instead, since the location of the studio and the racer's friend are over an hour apart.


On Michiru's way to the studio, she was dreaded to be on the show. The host was known for being patronizing artists with her questions. The show's producer had repeatedly invite the violinist to come for a short interview and performance, and Richard was never successful in convincing the aqua haired beauty to put it on her schedule until last month. If she weren't trying to make up for cancelling the performance with the youth orchestra a few weeks ago in order to attend Haruka's race, she would have never committed to making an appearance on shows like this.

As she arrived at the studio, she got out of the cab and headed towards the entrance.

"Oh no!" She suddenly gasped, "My violin!" She had forgotten her instrument in the trunk.

"Driver, please wait!" She tried stop the driver but he couldn't hear her.

The cab started departing the driveway and headed out to the street. The violin was one of her favorites and she couldn't lose it. Michiru was really nervous and started running after the cab. The car stopped at the traffic light and the violinist was getting close.

Suddenly one of Michiru's kitten heels got caught in the pavement and instantly immobilized her.

"Oh please, not right now!" Michiru almost yelled. She also felt a pain on her ankle.

A young guy in his car saw this. He quickly pulled over, got off and ran after the taxi.

"I've got it. Stay there." He said as he ran past Michiru.

"Thank you. My violin is in the trunk!" the artist yelled she was trying to yank her heel out of the crack.

The guy was lightning fast, Michiru thought. She hadn't seen anyone capable of dashing in such speed other than Haruka. He caught up to the taxi right before the light turned green, and stopped the driver just in time. Michiru was relieved as he successfully retrieved her violin case from the trunk.

The guy ran back towards Michiru. He knelt down on one knee, set the violin case on his lap and tried to assist the violinist with her stuck heel. "Let me help you." Michiru removed her foot from the heel and he easily freed her shoe from the pavement.

"Please." He offered a smile as he helped the artist slipping back into her shoe.

He then stood up and offered Michiru her violin back in both hands, "Here you go."

"Thank you so much." Michiru took her violin and smiled gracefully, "and sorry for having to bother you."

"Not a problem at all." The guy replied and smiled, "Don't forget it next time!" He then headed back to his car.

Michiru waved goodbye and started making her way towards the entrance of the studio. She felt a sharp pain on her ankle and knew that she must have sprained it, but she bit her lip and carried on walking with the pain.

The guy got back to his car but saw the violinist limping. He quickly ran back to her and said, "Did you sprain your ankle? Let me help you..." he tried to hold the aqua-haired beauty.

"Probably. But I'm fine, thank you." Michiru smiled and declined politely, holding out one of her hand.

"Hold on to me then." he offered his arm for the violinist to hold onto.

"I'm really fine. Thank you." she politely declined again.

He insisted on walking along with Michiru until she stepped into the studio.

"Let me know if I can help. Just tell anyone that you're here with Seiya and they'll come get me." He didn't know that the aqua haired beauty was here to perform as well. He thought the attractive lady was probably a member of the host's house band, or an audience who just happened to carry her violin around.

"Thanks again Seiya." Michiru smiled.

Seiya smiled as Michiru continued her way inside; he found the aqua-haired beauty interesting. Most girls at her age would immediately know he was Seiya from the most popular band and ask for an autograph or a picture together, but not this young lady. More interestingly, even though the she looked delicate and elegant, she was audacious and tough in chasing the taxi and enduring the pain from a sprained ankle.


As Michiru walked in, she realized that the production crew wasn't expecting her for the evening segment. After a few back and forth, they found out that they had an outdated schedule and didn't properly prepare for her arrival. Things were a little messy but they finally thought they sorted it out.
"Your dressing room is down the hall, the last one on the right." The crew told her.
"Thank you." Michiru responded.

The hallway seemed much longer for Michiru when she was walking in pain. She finally made her way down to the last room and opened the door. As she walked in, she was surprised at what she saw. It was a stylish, large room with very specific set up: the room was in a dark color theme. Drapes were in light gray, and there were three black mesh chandeliers in different sizes hanging from the ceiling. There were a few purple patterned and textured cushions lying on the shiny silver round sofa set. Sitting in the middle was a black leather coffee table serving freshly prepared fruits, imported candies and assorted teas. There were 3 modern, masculine style vanity tables in the corners, each with a humidifier actively running. Lights were slightly dimmed and the thermostat was fixated at 68F (20C).

She realized that the crew must have directed her to the wrong dressing room. As she grabbed her violin, preparing to step out, someone opened the door and came in. Michiru startled as she saw two young gentlemen in long ponytails walking in. The two boys were surprised to see her in the dressing room as well.

"Who are you? What are you doing in our dressing room?" The shorter boy in silver hair asked. He was a bit brash.

"I'm sorry. I think I must have gotten into the wrong dressing room." Michiru tried to walk out.

"No worries. We just needed to get ourselves ready. If you'd like to see us, please come by after the show." The taller boy in brown hair said politely.

"Pardon me?" Michiru stopped at the door, confused by the comment.

"Aren't you one of our fans?" The silver haired boy asked.

"I wish I know who you are." Michiru shook her head.

"Really? Are you serious? You've never heard of, or seen us? We're the Three Lights."

The shorter boy was surprised.

Suddenly, the door opened again. It was Seiya. Michiru was surprised to see him again.

"Hi again! Didn't expect to see you here." Seiya said to the violinist.

"Seiya," the taller boy said, "this lady seemed to enter our dressing room by mistake."

"No worries!" Seiya said, then looked at Michiru, "Young lady, I don't know what you're doing here. But I am sorry that you hurt your ankle. Would you like to sit down and rest here?"

"No thank you. I've got to go prepare myself as well." Michiru said, "By the way, my name is Kaioh Michiru. I'm a violinist and I'm here to perform on the show tonight. I'm sorry that our dressing rooms were mixed up." Then she walked out with her violin.

So far everything had gone the wrong way, and Michiru just hoped that things would be better so she could survive the night.


During the live show, Michiru was interviewed by the sharp-tongued host. There were some challenging questions asked regarding a critical review of her violin performance, the potential distraction from her art pursuit, and her appearance at the race last month. She handled them well but being in the spotlight talking about her personal life was emotionally draining for her. The Three Lights were in the backstage and learned a bit more about Michiru when they heard the interview.

Finally it was the violinist's turn to perform. She initially wanted to perform a relaxing classical piece, but changed her mind at the last minute. Perhaps it was the stress inside of her; she opted for a pop song. She picked an upbeat, expressive song and performed a violin cover version of it. She forgot about the pain on her ankle, played her heart out and danced during her performance. The audience was ecstatic, even the host as well. The host even predicted that the violinist would start a new trend of classical instrument and pop song crossovers.

Seiya watched the aqua-haired beauty's performance and was mesmerized by her every move and enjoyed every note she played. He found her even more attractive and mysterious now; he was determined that he wanted to get to know Michiru more.

When the segment was over, Michiru was relieved and pleased, and she couldn't wait to go back to her apartment.

She wanted to catch a cab but there was none available at the stand. She didn't want to ask Haruka as she knew that the racer was too far away, and she didn't want to interrupt the party. She waited for a while and decided that if she didn't have any luck with a cab for another 30 minutes then she'd call the tall blonde.

As Michiru was waiting, Seiya pulled up to the driveway in his luxury SUV. He got out of the car and walked over to the violinist.

"Michiru-san, can I offer you a ride home?"

"Thank you for your offer, Seiya-san. I'm waiting for someone to pick me up." Michiru said.

"I see. But it's quite late now. How about I stay here with you until your friend arrives?"

"Seiya-san, I really can't ask for more favor. You've already helped me a lot today." The violinist politely declined Seiya's offer again.

The bluish-black haired boy did not feel right to leave Michiru there by herself, so he started chatting with her to buy him more time there.

"How's your ankle? Are you feeling better now?"

"I'm much better. Thanks for asking."

"That's good to know. By the way, what a wonderful performance you had tonight!"

"Thank you. Same to you. Now I know why you guys are so popular." The violinist was trying to be nice by offering some flattering words.

"Aw thank you! I am flattered!"

Michiru didn't want to mingle with Seiya, she wished a cab would just show up so that she could jump on and leave instead. Everything happened this evening was nothing but an embarrassment: almost losing her violin, getting stuck with her heels, spraining her ankle, mixing up dressing rooms with other artists, and being asked tough personal questions publicly. She wanted the day to end right there and let her have a few minutes resting on Haruka's shoulder.

Just as Seiya was trying to ask the violinist another question, a midnight blue sports car pulled up at the driveway and stopped behind Seiya's car. It interrupted the conversation. Michiru did not recognize the car but from the way it was driven she knew that it had to be Haruka. When the racer stepped out of the car, Michiru was excited and had a big smile on her face. She tried to run over to the tall blonde but forgot that her ankle was sprained.

The violinist lost her balance as soon as she took the first step, and Seiya caught her right before she fell.


to be continued...

What you think Haruka would do/say? PM me or leave a comment!